Huawei boss says US may 'escalate,' stays confident on business

DAVOS, Switzerland -- The chief executive of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei on Tuesday said he was ready for the United States to escalate a "campaign" against the firm this year but insisted it would not have a significant effect on business.

The comments by Huawei chief executive and founder Ren Zhengfei to business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos come amid a bitter court fight in Canada over a US demand to extradite Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is his eldest daughter.

Huawei, the global leader in telecom networking equipment, has also been effectively banned by the United States from working with American firms on the grounds that it poses a national security threat -– an accusation the company has consistently denied.

"This year, the US might escalate their campaign against Huawei, but I think the impact on Huawei business will not be very significant," Ren told a session at Davos.

He said the company had invested intensely in protecting itself and was well-prepared this year.

"That's why we could withstand the first round of attack. In the year 2020, since we already have this experience from last year, we are more confidant that we can survive, even further attacks," he added.

USED TO BEING NUMBER ONE

Meng Wanzhou went to court on Monday to fight extradition to the United States, with her lawyers calling the accusations against her "fiction".

The US alleges Meng lied to HSBC Bank about Huawei's relationship with its Iran-based affiliate Skycom, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Tehran.

Meng has denied the allegations. She has been out on bail, living in one of her two Vancouver mansions for the past year.

Ren has previously suggested that the case was part of a US plot to crush Huawei, seeing it as a security risk.

Huawei said in December that "survival" was its top priority after announcing 2019 sales were expected to fall short of projections as a result of US sanctions.

Washington has banned US companies from selling equipment to Huawei, locking out the smartphone giant from access to Google's Android operating system.

"The United States… it is used to being the world number one and if someone is better than them, they might not feel comfortable," said Ren.

He said Huawei "used to be" an admirer of the United States and had notably been inspired by American management systems.

"From that perspective, the US should not be overly concerned about Huawei and Huawei's position in the world."

Agence France-Presse

Huawei plans to shift research center to Canada from US

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd plans to shift its research center to Canada from the United States, Ren Zhengfei, the founder of the Chinese telecoms equipment maker, said in an interview with Canada's Globe and Mail.

Ren's remarks came as Reuters reported on Friday that the United States is weighing expanding its power to stop more foreign shipments of products with US technology to Huawei. The US Commerce Department in May placed Huawei on a trade blacklist, citing national security concerns.

Huawei's "center for research and development will be moved out of the United States, and that will be relocated to Canada," Ren told the Globe and Mail, adding that the company will also manufacture some mobile network equipment outside China.

The Huawei founder wants to build new factory capacity in Europe to make fifth-generation (5G) networking equipment there, hoping to assuage fears stemming from US allegations that its product could be used by China for spying, the Globe and Mail reported.

Huawei was not immediately available to comment on Ren's interview when contacted by Reuters. The firm has previously denied it is a risk to US national security.

The company spent $510 million on the operations of its US research arm last year, according to the Globe and Mail report, which added that it has now trimmed the arm's work force by 600 to about 250.

Separately, Ren's daughter and Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested by Canadian police on a US warrant late last year, is fighting extradition to the United States on charges of violating sanctions against Iran. She is currently out on bail.

Huawei has denied the charges and China has urged Canada to release her.

Commenting on her case, Ren said that it is an example of "obvious political interference from the US."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei defies odds after 180 days on US trade blacklist

When the US government added Huawei Technologies to its trade blacklist on May 16, the Trump administration expected to hobble the Chinese telecommunications gear maker's business by restricting its access to American hi-tech components.

Fast-forward to the present and Huawei has not only recalibrated its operations under the stringent conditions of Washington's Entity List, but the company has continued to push its global agenda for 5G " the next-generation mobile technology that will help power advances such as the industrial internet, autonomous driving and smart cities.

Shenzhen-based Huawei will mark 180 days under the US trade blacklist on Sunday, a dubious milestone that has been tempered by efforts to stabilze its operations.

The privately-held company last month reported total revenue of 610.8 billion yuan (US$86.8 billion) for the nine months ended September 30 and more than 60 commercial 5G network supply contracts to lead the industry, which puts it in a position to surpass US$100 billion in sales this year.

This performance has defied early predictions that Huawei would stumble under the US trade ban, which restricts the company's access to American-origin technologies such as software and semiconductors.

However, Huawei's septuagenarian founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei, may need to double down on initiatives to bolster confidence in the world's biggest network gear maker, as political and economic headwinds still threaten to push its overseas business off a cliff.

"Our strong results in the third quarter show that we continue to have the trust and support of our clients and customers," Huawei said in an emailed statement. "Despite the challenges, we have continued to achieve quality growth."

Separate interviews with 5 current Huawei employees, who have direct knowledge of recent initiatives and who spoke on condition of anonymity, described how the company, with Ren taking a more hands-on approach, has made a united stand against the US government's campaign to undermine its business around the world.

The initial strategy involved a sharper focus on media relations which involved maintaining a consistent message: Huawei does not spy for Beijing and will not share user data with the Chinese government.

Within days of the US Commerce Department announcing that Huawei had been added to its blacklist, a crack team was formed by the company's carrier business group, including staff from legal, product marketing, global sales, supply chain and technical support.

Their mission was to immediately respond to all relevant inquiries " at any time, seven days a week " from Huawei's partners and customers in more than 170 countries worldwide.

Meanwhile Ren, the son of schoolteachers and a survivor of China's great famine between 1958 and 1961, has put himself front and center in Huawei's increased media relations effort, as the company seeks to project a more transparent and open image.

Before his daughter Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, was arrested in Vancouver in December last year at the request of the US government, Ren had never given a television interview. Nor did he often speak to journalists because he was content to let his lieutenants do all the talking.

Now he is everywhere. Since January, Ren has spoken with journalists from both foreign and domestic media organizations. These engagements escalated after Huawei's blacklisting in May, which led Ren to talk more with various international media in a bid to regain control of the narrative and assuage the concerns of its more than 194,000 employees worldwide.

"Honestly, I was in shock when I learned about the US ban," said a Huawei employee surnamed Yang, who works as an engineer at one of the company's research and development teams.

"I was not familiar with the Entity List in the past. I thought that it could hit Huawei's business hard. However, I don't have any choice but to continue to work hard."

Huawei has expanded its international public relations team to provide a stronger infrastructure for staging campaigns such as "Coffee with Ren" as well as presentations at various industry events, especially in Europe.

More than 10 new recruits have been added over the past several months.

Ren has spoken openly of his concerns, including describing the company as a "damaged plane", and the corporate communications team has not stopped his soul-searching.

Ren, for example, said in September that Huawei was ready to share its 5G technology with potential Western buyers, as the company remains mired in the middle of the US-China trade war.

Huawei also arranged at least two major visit tours for many of its major clients and business partners at home and abroad in the first three months since the US trade ban.

The tours were designed to highlight that operations are normal and that the company's supply chain network remains strong, according to people familiar with the matter.

Social media, however, may also have played a part in helping Huawei to get its message across to a wider audience.

Soon after news of Huawei's blacklisting spread, a memo written by Teresa He Tingbo, the president of semiconductor subsidiary HiSilicon, about this unit's contingency plans, became one of the top-trending topics on Chinese microblogging service Weibo.

One such scenario was the US cutting off access to advanced chips and technology.

Though hopeful that a situation in which the US cuts off access to advanced chips and other technologies would never happen, HiSilicon devoted significant resources to building a backup that would ensure the survival of the group, according to He's memo.

That backup plan has now been initiated to "ensure the strategic safety of most of the company's products and the continuous supply of most products", He said.

HiSilicon has been designing systems-on-a-chip devices, based on technology from British firm ARM, since at least 2012. Fast-forward to September this year and Huawei has started making 5G base stations without US components.

It said total production of 5G base stations should more than double next year, as the company had aimed to start scaling production since October. Last month, HiSilicon also started selling its 4G Balong 711 chip on the open market.

While research firms like Haitong and Canalys have reported that Huawei has been stockpiling critical US components for almost a year, restricted access to American-made software such as Google's Android operating system has proved to be a trickier issue for Huawei.

Huawei was forced to delay the release of its new flagship Mate 30 series smartphones in Europe, its biggest market outside China, because the handsets have no access to Google apps and services under the US trade ban.

While Google apps are not an issue in China's restricted internet market, they are of critical importance to Huawei's overseas smartphone business.

Although Huawei unveiled its own operating system, Harmony, in August, the company said it had no plans to install that software on its smartphones yet because Android remains its top choice and it wants to protect the current app ecosystem.

Richard Yu Chengdong, chief executive of Huawei's consumer business group, said Harmony was capable of supporting a range of products and its own ecosystem, and is compatible with all Android apps and existing web applications.

"It will take years to build a viable app ecosystem for Harmony and convince consumers outside China to use it instead of Google services," said Jean Baptiste Su, a principal analyst with Atherton Research in San Jose, California.

Microsoft also stopped accepting new orders from Huawei in response to the trade blacklisting, according to a South China Morning Post report in May, citing people familiar with the matter.

The negative publicity over the US trade ban, combined with a global slowdown in the smartphone market, may have forced Huawei to reduce orders for new handsets from Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information was private.

They said Foxconn, which also assembles smartphones for Apple and Xiaomi Corp, stopped several production lines for Huawei handsets in May, after the US blacklisting.

Smartphone contract manufacturers have flexibility built into their production schedules and can increase, or reduce, orders to meet changing conditions, and it is not clear whether the decreased production is temporary or part of a longer-term cut, the people said.

In response, Huawei said that its "global production levels are normal, with no notable adjustments in either direction".

Despite these travails, Huawei has shown plenty of resilience since the US blacklisting in May, according to Atherton analyst Su.

"We believe that Huawei's growth will continue in the last quarter of the year " and beyond " for its enterprise and telecoms carrier businesses," Su said.

"The company has been able to replace most of the US components used in its enterprise and carrier products with either non-US or home-grown parts."

Huawei's latest financial results showed that the company was in better shape than Ren initially predicted in June, when he said that Huawei was unlikely to see much growth, with total sales capped at around US$100 billion this year and in 2020 because of the trade ban.

A sharper focus on its home market has also helped lift the company's financial results.

The company targeted a significant increase in its share of China's smartphone and telecoms network equipment markets to help offset potential losses overseas because of the US blacklist, according to people familiar with the matter.

Given the economic environment this year, Huawei's ability to ship 200 million smartphones ahead of its previous target represents a significant milestone for the company, according to Thomas Husson, a vice-president at Forrester Research.

On October 23, Huawei said it shipped 200 million smartphones since the start of this year. That was 64 days earlier than when the company shipped the same number of handsets last year.

"Its P30 and Mate 30 range of devices demonstrate Huawei's ability to master technology innovation," Husson said. Still, he indicated that Huawei's smartphones shipments are likely to suffer in Europe because of the lack of Google services under the US trade ban.

Washington has also provided a sliver of good news. US companies will be allowed to start selling to Huawei "very soon", according to US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in an interview with Bloomberg that aired last Sunday.

Ross said the US government had already received 206 requests from US suppliers " more than what was initially expected.

To be sure though, Huawei's Ren has said that a clearer picture of how the company has held up under the trade ban will not likely emerge until next year.

"If you come talk with me at this time next year, you will see if we are still growing," Ren said this week. "We have to focus on our business for the next three to five years ... to lead the market."

That is why it is important that other countries foster alternative hi-tech supplies, as the US limits access to American technologies to certain companies, according to Ren this week.

He called on hi-tech suppliers in Europe and Japan for support, without elaborating on the identity of these firms.

In the meantime, Huawei has also had to deal with employee complaints about working conditions at the Shenzhen-based technology giant.

Hu Ling, a member of the human resources team at Huawei's elite 2012 Lab research unit, recently posted a letter of complaint on an internal message board (later deleted) that accused the company of encouraging overtime work that was above the maximum allowed by law.

The letter, which was leaked externally and went viral online, also described how the previous head of human resources had asked for permission to lay off employees who had complained about corporate welfare issues, such as the quality of canteen and shuttle bus services.

Ren has called for vigorous internal debate on these issues but has asked employees to keep these concerns within the Huawei community.

In the end, while Huawei has so far managed to survive the difficulties of being caught between the US and China's trade dispute, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that its ultimate fate is inextricably tied to the sort of trade deal that the world's two biggest economies reach in ongoing negotiations.

For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.


Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Huawei says shipped 100 million smartphones this year as of end-May

HONG KONG - Huawei Technologies said on Friday it has shipped 100 million smartphones this year as of May 30.

Huawei consumer business group's smartphone product line president He Gang revealed the numbers at a launch event in Wuhan, China for its new Nova 5 phone. The phone is powered by Huawei's new 7-nanometer chipset Kirin 810.

Huawei has been hit by devastating curbs ordered by Washington, which threatens to cripple its supply chain.

Founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei said on Monday the ban could cost the company $30 billion in revenue this year, and that smartphone sales outside China already dropped 40 percent in the past month.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei phone sales plunge, cutbacks planned as US pressure bites

SHENZHEN -- Huawei's founder said Monday the Chinese telecom giant's overseas smartphone sales have tumbled since the US last month threatened to blacklist the company, and he warned the embattled firm would slash production to weather the US drive to isolate it.

The announcements by Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei marked the first clear indication from the company of the impact of the US pressure, which is being applied over concerns in Washington that Huawei is in bed with China's security apparatus.

Speaking at a panel discussion organized by the company at headquarters in the city of Shenzhen in southern China, Ren was asked if he could confirm media reports citing anonymous sources which said its overseas smartphone sales had fallen by up to 40 percent.

"Yes, (sales) have fallen 40 percent," said Ren.

He gave no further details on the sales plunge but a Huawei spokeswoman later clarified that he was referring to a 40 percent fall from May to June in the wake of the US blacklist threat.

Ren added, however, that sales growth in China's domestic market remained "very fast".

Huawei was the world's number two smartphone producer last year, ahead of Apple and behind South Korea's Samsung, as well as the largest provider of telecom networking equipment.

Huawei has said it shipped a total of 206 million smartphones in 2018, about half in China and half overseas.

Ren, 74, said Huawei planned to cut production by $30 billion over the next two years to ride out the storm. He did not specify which lines of business would be hit most. 

Huawei earned just over $100 billion in revenue in 2018, so a $30 billion reduction would equate to about 30 percent of last year's overall business. 

But Ren, who compared Huawei to a damaged but still-flying aircraft, added that he expected the company to soon back on track.

"In 2021, we will regain our vitality and (continue to) provide services to human society," he said.

GRIM OUTLOOK 

Huawei has emerged as a key bone of contention in the wider China-US trade war that has seen tit-for-tat tariffs imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods.

President Donald Trump's administration has essentially banned Huawei from the huge US market.

Last month it also added Huawei to an "entity list" of companies barred from receiving US-made components without permission from Washington, though the company was granted a 90-day reprieve for now.

The US fears that systems built by Huawei could be used by China's government for espionage via secret security "backdoors" built into telecom networking equipment.

Those fears have revolved in large part around Ren's background as a former Chinese army engineer, and questions over the privately-held Huawei's corporate ownership structure, which some critics say is unusual and opaque.

Huawei strongly denies any links to China's government and says the United States has never provided proof of its accusations. 

The Trump administration is pressing other countries to ban Huawei equipment from their networks, particularly in the coming rollout of super-fast 5G networks, a global project in which Huawei had been expected to play a leading role.

The US campaign has already spurred a number of major technology companies, including leading semi-conductor suppliers and brands such as Facebook and Google, to suspend cooperation with Huawei.

In an analysis last week, global consultancy Eurasia Group said Huawei "has little hope of staying on the global cutting edge in either smartphones or networking technology as long as it remains on the US Entity List."

"Over time, this will erode Huawei's ability to offer globally competitive products, and the company will likely be forced to resort to selling second-best products in the domestic Chinese market as it seeks to rebuild its international business without US technology," it said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei founder opposes Chinese revenge vs Apple: Bloomberg

Huawei Technologies' founder and Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei told Bloomberg that retaliation by Beijing against Apple Inc was unlikely and that he would oppose any such move from China against the iPhone maker.

When asked about calls from some in China to retaliate against Apple, Ren said that he would "protest" against any such step if it were to be taken by Beijing.

"That (Chinese retaliation against Apple) will not happen first of all and second of all, if that happens, I'll be the first to protest," Ren said in the interview with Bloomberg.

He conceded that export curbs from the administration of US President Donald Trump will cut into a two-year lead built by Huawei over its competitors, but added that the company will either ramp up its chip supply or find alternatives to stay ahead in smartphones and 5G.

More details to follow. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei founder says US underestimates company, 'can't be isolated'

BEIJING -- Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei struck a defiant tone Tuesday against US attempts to block his company's global ambitions, saying the US "underestimates" the telecom giant's strength.

Ren spoke to Chinese state media days after President Donald Trump issued orders aimed at thwarting Huawei's business in the United States, capping months of efforts to stop the company's bid to become the world leader in next-generation 5G technology.

"The current practice of US politicians underestimates our strength," Ren said, according to CCTV.

"Huawei's 5G will absolutely not be affected. In terms of 5G technologies, others won't be able to catch up with Huawei in two or three years," he said.

Last week, Trump declared a "national emergency" empowering him to blacklist companies seen as "an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States" -- a move analysts said was clearly aimed at Huawei.

At the same time, the US Commerce Department announced the effective ban on American companies selling or transferring US technology to Huawei.

But the Commerce Department on Monday issued a 90-day reprieve on the ban on the transfer of technology.

"The US 90-day temporary licence does not have much impact on us, we are ready," Ren said.

Half of chips used in Huawei equipment come from the United States and the other half are made by the Chinese company, he said.

"We cannot be isolated from the world," Ren said.

"We can also make the same chips as the US chips, but it doesn't mean we won't buy them," he added.

ASK TRUMP, NOT ME

The Huawei confrontation has been building for years, as the company has raced to a huge advantage over rivals in next-generation 5G mobile technology.

US intelligence believes Huawei is backed by the Chinese military and that its equipment could provide Beijing's intelligence services with a backdoor into the communications networks of rival countries.

For that reason, Washington has pushed its closest allies to reject Huawei technology, a significant challenge given the few alternatives for 5G.

The battle over Huawei has added to tensions in a trade war that has escalated between the world's top two economies, with both sides exchanging steep increases in tariffs as negotiations have faltered.

Asked how long Huawei may face difficult times, Ren said: "You may need to ask Trump about this question, not me."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei's founder says world can't live without it

BEIJING -- The founder of Chinese telecom giant Huawei has hit back at US efforts to blacklist the company, saying defiantly that the world cannot do without Huawei and its "more advanced" technology.

"There's no way the US can crush us," Ren Zhengfei said in an interview with the BBC.

"The world cannot leave us because we are more advanced."

Ren, 74, also denounced as "politically motivated" the December arrest of his daughter, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is accused of violating US sanctions against Iran.

"We object to this," he said. 

"But now that we've gone down this path, we'll let the courts settle it."

The normally media-shy Huawei founder has been forced to step into the limelight in recent months as the company has come under increasing pressure over espionage concerns and the US-led campaign to persuade other countries to ban its technology.

Last year, security concerns prompted Australia to ban Huawei equipment from its future 5G network.

New Zealand has also blocked its largest telecom carrier from using Huawei technology for the next generation network, while the Czech Republic has reportedly excluded it from a 20-million-euro ($22 million) tender to build a tax portal.

US prosecutors also are charging Huawei with stealing trade secrets, saying it offered rewards to employees for stealing technology from other rivals.

Ren shrugged off the growing pressure.

"If the lights go out in the West, the East will still shine," he said. "America doesn't represent the world."

"Even if they persuade more countries not to use us temporarily, we can always downsize and become smaller."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US to formally seek extradition of Huawei CFO, says Canadian envoy

The United States will proceed with the formal extradition from Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, Canada's ambassador to the United States told the Globe and Mail, in a move certain to ratchet up tensions with China.

David MacNaughton, in an interview with the Canadian newspaper published on Monday, said the US has told Canada it will request Meng's extradition, but he did not say when the request will be made. The deadline for filing is Jan. 30, or 60 days after Meng was arrested on Dec. 1 in Vancouver.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested at the request of the United States over alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran. She was released on bail last month and is due in court in Vancouver on Feb. 6.

Relations between China and Canada turned frosty after the arrest, with China detaining two Canadian citizens and sentencing to death a Canadian man previously found guilty of drug smuggling.

The Chinese firm, the world's biggest maker of telecommunications equipment, said it had no comment on ongoing legal proceedings when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday. A US Justice Department spokesman said, "We will comment through our filings."

The Canadian Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

Canada is one of over 100 countries with which the United States has extradition treaties. Once a formal request is received, a Canadian court must determine within 30 days if there is sufficient evidence to support extradition, and Canada's Minister of Justice must give a formal order.

In an article published on Monday, a former Canadian spy chief said Canada should ban Huawei from supplying equipment for next-generation telecoms networks, while Canada's government is studying any security implications.

Some of Canada's allies such as the United States and Australia have already imposed restrictions on using Huawei equipment, citing the risk of it being used for espionage.

Huawei has repeatedly said such concerns are unfounded, while China's ambassador to Canada last week said there would be repercussions if Ottawa blocked Huawei.

In Monday's interview, MacNaughton said he had complained to the United States that Canada was suffering from Chinese revenge for an arrest made at the request of the US.

"We don't like that it is our citizens who are being punished," the Globe and Mail cited MacNaughton as saying. "(The Americans) are the ones seeking to have the full force of American law brought against (Ms. Meng) and yet we are the ones who are paying the price. Our citizens are."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously said China was arbitrarily using the death penalty and called on world leaders to raise concerns about the detained Canadians.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei bridges fashion, tech with smartwatch

MANILA -- Chinese technology company Huawei recently raised the bar as far as developing a strong branding position​ in the lifestyle arena​ is concerned with the recent launch of its smartwatch.

The atmosphere at the launch event exuded a lifestyle gloss with models, celebrities and beauty queens led by 2013 Miss International Bea Rose Santiago and Maggie Wilson-Consunji as special guests.

Charles Wu, country manager of Huawei’s business group, boasts that the Huawei Watch truly bridges the gap between fashion and technology.

“As part of our expanding line of premium wearable products, the Huawei Watch was designed and created to enhance and be part of the consumer’s everyday lives. It is our response to consumers requests who are looking for a smartwatch that combines timeless design and truly usable features," Wu said.

In his presentation, Huawei business head of tablets, mobile broadband and wearables Arturo Carandang Jr. said the circular watch features a 1.4-inch touch-sensitive AMOLED display, scratch-proof sapphire crystal lens, cold-forged stainless steel frame, and comes with a built-in heart rate monitor and 6-Axis motion sensors.

Made of more than 130 components, Carandang said the Huawei Watch has all the traditional elements of a classic watch, including a crown, frame and hinge built from high-quality and scratch resistant cold-forged stainless steel making it 40 percent harder.

The polished 42mm stainless steel body comes in at 11.3mm thick, which makes it slim and very comfortable to wear. The body of the watch is also both corrosion- and scratch-resistant. Unlike most regular watches, the Huawei Watch places its crown at the intuitive 2 o’clock press button, offering the highest levels of control and comfort to the user.

The watch works both on iOS and Android. Powered by Google’s proprietary Android Wear, Carandang said it can receive SMS, email, calendar, app, and phone call notifications.

Moreover, Carandang said the watch is compatible with smartphones running Android 4.3 or higher, and is powered by a Qualcomm 1.2GHz processor for optimal performance. It also includes 4GB of storage, 512MB of RAM and Bluetooth 4.1 support.

When paired with a smartphones, the watch enables a user to stay connected regardless of location, with instant notifications on incoming calls, texts, instant messages and emails.

The Bluetooth connectivity allows wireless headphone usage, and offline music download support. A user can play via voice commands by being able to search for destinations and navigate their way there using the same voice actions.

Aside from a fashion statement, the watch is also a gadget for fitness buffs. It features a heart rate monitor sensor, which can accurately measure heart rates. The sensor protrudes slightly for better skin contact and greater accuracy.

With its 6-Axis motion sensor, gyroscope and accelerometer the Huawei watch can detect and track, in real-time, if a user is walking, running, biking, hiking or sleeping. Specifically, users can monitor everything from the number of calories burned, to heart rate, climbing height, steps taken, and distance travelled.

The Huawei Watch Classic retails for P19,990, while Huawei Watch Active retails for P 23,990.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Did China ask Huawei to spy? CEO speaks up

DAVOS - China's controversial telecommunications equipment maker Huawei supports the ruling Communist Party and loves the country, its CEO said Thursday, but stressed Beijing has never asked it to spy on the United States or others.

Ren Zhengfei, a former People's Liberation Army (PLA) engineer, founded the company in 1987 and it has risen to rank among the world's top manufacturers of network equipment.

But his PLA service has led to concerns of close links with the Chinese military and government, which Huawei has consistently denied.

Asked about the issue in a rare public appearance at the World Economic Forum, Ren said through an interpreter: "We are a Chinese company, we definitely advocate (the) Communist Party of China.

"We love our country," he added. "But having said that, we definitely will not compromise the interest of any other country or government. We comply with laws and regulations in every country we do business in."

Asked whether Beijing has ever asked him to use the company's network to tap into US facilities, he responded: "We have never received such a request from the Chinese government."

He also suggested Huawei's technology would not be up to such a task: "There's no way we can possibly penetrate into other people's systems."

The US has long seen Huawei as a security threat, while Washington and Australia have barred it from involvement in broadband projects over espionage fears. The company denies such allegations vigorously.

Last year The New York Times and Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported the US National Security Agency (NSA) had accessed Huawei's email archive, communications between top company officials and the source code of some of its products.

The allegations were based on documents provided by fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

But Ren had nothing but positive comments about the US on Thursday, emphasising that its openness was a key reason it has become the world's top power and stressing he has never thought it has treated Huawei unfairly.

Huawei operates in 170 countries and the company says one third of the world's population communicate using its products in some way.

It is the world's second largest network equipment supplier behind Sweden's Ericsson, and has made a large push into consumer products such smartphones in recent years.

Research firm Strategy Analytics ranked Huawei as the world's number five smartphone maker by shipments in the third quarter last year, with a 5.1 percent market share.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com